The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) is set to establish five more trade offices in the Middle East and Africa in 2009 in order to accelerate local exports and penetrate into new markets, said the ministry.
Vietnam has to date opened five commercial affairs agencies in the Middle East, including in Kuwait, Iran, Turkey, UAE and Iraq, while the network of trade representatives in Africa remains too thin with just five agencies in 54 countries, said Nguyen Cong Hien, Deputy Director of the Department of Trade Policies for Africa and West-South Asia under the MoIT.
The figures prove to be too few in comparison with the bigger potential of these markets. Therefore, it is necessary to launch more trade offices in the regions to boost exports, he noted, adding that the Government has recently assigned the MoIT to draw up the plan to open trade offices in Ghana and Tanzania.
The Middle East and Africa have emerged as the potential export markets for Vietnamese farm produce, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Le Duong Quang.
In 2008, the Government chose the Middle East as the new key market for trade promotion activities. In 2009, the MoIT has decided that Africa will be the new market worth of much attention, no matter if the Government chooses Africa as the key market or not, Mr. Hien said.
Two-way trade between Vietnam and the Middle East hit US$1.19 billion last year, including Vietnam’s exports of 700 million, up 17.2 per cent on-year. The figure is expected to increase by 30 per cent this year, said the MoIT.
In 2007, bilateral trade between Vietnam African countries increased to over US$1 billion, up from US$15.5 million in 1991. Of the sum, Vietnam reaped US$684 million from goods shipments to Africa, up 12 per cent on-year. In the first eight months of this year, the country recorded US$922 million in export revenues and posted US$692 million in imports from African nations. (Young People, VietnamNet)
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